When in Sonora Stoke Newington…

Dog friendly restaurant review: Sonora Taqueria

If you’re looking for upmarket Mexican food in a stylish setting, you should probably say ‘sayonara’ to Sonora…

But if you’re looking for no-frills flavour and substance over style, this is the dog friendly spot for you. Forget Taco Tuesday. This is Taco Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 

Environment

If you’re struggling to find Sonora Taqueria, look for a queue on the street. Since it’s only open from 12pm to 4pm Thursday to Sunday and they don’t accept bookings, demand is high and there’s normally a line of people stretching down the road. Don’t worry though – the queue goes down pretty quickly. Located on Stoke Newington High Street, you can easily reach Sonora Taqueria from the Stoke Newington overground station. Alternatively, there’s a bus stop right outside or you can normally find a parking spot on Garnham Street.

Once you get to the front of the queue, you’ll enter the open kitchen/ordering/waiting area. The decor is basic, since the focus is on the food. Once your order is ready, they’ll put it on the pass for you to collect. You can either take it away, eat it in the standing area or head down to the seating area in the basement. If you’ve got a pup with you, I’d recommend the latter. It’s quite compact down there though, so if you have a larger or more reactive dog, this is something to consider.

Price

This restaurant celebrates the food of Sonora and specialises in tacos and quesadillas. The average price per taco is £4, while the quesadillas cost £5 each. The sides are super simple – a plain bean taco, a plain quesadilla or a bean quesadilla – each costing between £1 or £2. If you’re feeling naughty, you can opt for a cheese crust on your taco for an extra 50p.

Taste

The menu is simple, so they can focus on making sure every single option is delicious. Even though it only spans one side of A4, there’s a vegetarian option, a vegan option and a gluten-free option to make sure everyone can enjoy the food. The menu is split into two – grilled options and braised options. I’d recommend trying both. The classic Carne Asada is a best seller or opt for the Caramelo if you’d prefer a cheese crust. The Barbacoa is my favourite. The rich, slow cooked beef in this taco is OUT OF THIS WORLD. If you’re feeling daring, grab one of their celery sodas to wash it down.

Service

But enough about the tacos. What about the tail-waggers? This place is totally dog friendly and we always see someone there with their pup when we go. As I mentioned earlier, it’s a pretty small space and there will probably be a wait, so keep that in mind. But, your dog is more than welcome to join you in both the serving area and the seating area.

So, what’s the PETS (Price, Environment, Taste and Service) rating for Sonora Taqueria?

• Price: 4.5/5
• Environment: 3.2/5
• Taste: 4.7/5
• Service: 4/5

Overall, this dog friendly restaurant scores 4.1 out of 5. It would be higher if the venue was a bit more comfortable, but these are the best tacos I’ve had in London.

You should definitely ‘taco’ walk to Sonora Taqueria. But take a bib just ‘in-quesadilla’. 

Check out their website here.